Platform Innovation™ Weekly Round Up – July 18

Here’s what we’ve been reading this week.

1. VCs Sounding Off on Uber, Lyft and the Ride-sharing Market goo.gl/Yol13u

VC’s offer their take on Uber’s valuation and the potential size of the ride-sharing market.

2. Platform Monopolies goo.gl/h7PRdh

Very interesting post by USV’s Fred Wilson on some of the issues around platforms as monopolies and the next wave of platforms. Be sure to check out the first comment from author Jeff Jarvis as well.

3, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat Are Turning Into Storefronts goo.gl/u6TSEB

Good look at how these social media platforms are evolving over time to generate revenue.

4. Why peer-to-peer payments could be as big as the internet goo.gl/hvWbpG

The future of payments platforms are bright with Bitcoin and the blockchain poised to disrupt existing players.

5. Airbnb Is Quietly Building the Smartest Travel Agent of All Time goo.gl/R6O8ft

Great example of how platform’s ability to collect data allows them to deliver personalization. But Airbnb could only start doing this once it had matured as a platform and collected a large amount of data on a large user base — yet another reason why platforms have to scale to be successful.

6. Why Investors are in love with the Collaborative Economy goo.gl/z02cHU

A quick overview of VC investments in the collaborative economy (platforms) over the last year.

Filed under: Platform Innovation | Topics: Airbnb, Bitcoin, Facebook, Payments Platforms, platform economics, platform innovation, Platform Startup Advisory, social media, Twitter